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Published : 09 Feb 2026, 08:17 PM
Former Bangladesh Army chief Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan has said many of the Army personnel involved in the assassinations of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and former president Ziaur Rahman have been executed.
He recalled this in his testimony before the International Crimes Tribunal as he urged junior RAB officers to "refrain from committing murders".
He spoke on Monday, continuing his testimony for the second day, in the case filed against former Army officer Ziaul Ahsan, who faces charges of crimes against humanity for over a hundred murders.
Ziaul’s counsel Aminul Ghani Titto began the cross-examination following the conclusion of his deposition.
The proceedings, however, were suspended shortly after they commenced.
The court has scheduled Feb 18 for the next hearing.
Iqbal Karim testified that under the patronage of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s defence and security advisor Tarique Ahmed Siddique, operatives from the Indian spy agency RAW made regular visits to the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) headquarters.
He claimed that of the seven meeting rooms available at the DGFI office, one was specifically allocated for these foreign operatives to conduct their work.
"They would periodically identify certain individuals as militants and provide lists to the DGFI," he said.
"I am unaware of whether the DGFI took any effective action based on those lists."
The former Army chief said he gathered information through multiple channels, including the Army Security Unit (ASU) and the DGFI. Through discussions with Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) officers and other sources, he learned that junior Army officers were being "misguided and led astray”.
He concluded by noting that the Army had been "tarnished" and urged that the current opportunity to "purify" the institution must not be squandered.
